Airwallex Expands Arsenal Partnership With Stadium Payments Deal

Airwallex has deepened its partnership with Arsenal FC later than being selected to power all hospitality payments at Emirates Stadium, embedding its payments technology directly into the club’s premium matchday operations.

The global payments and financial platform will integrate its Payments Acceptance software across Arsenal’s hospitality infrastructure, covering premium seating, corporate boxes and VIP experiences. The move gives the club a single, fully integrated payments system designed to streamline transactions while reducing operational costs.

The agreement marks another step in Airwallex’s expansion into elite sports partnerships, as payments technology providers increasingly look to football and global sporting brands to showcase scalability, reliability and fan-facing innovation.

Single Payments Platform Rolled Out Across Emirates Stadium

Under the deal, Airwallex’s Payments Acceptance technology will sit at the core of Arsenal’s hospitality operations, consolidating payment flows that were previously managed across multiple systems.

The club said the upgrade is designed to improve efficiency behind the scenes while delivering a quicker and smoother experience for supporters purchasing hospitality packages on matchdays.

By embedding Airwallex into its payments infrastructure, Arsenal expects to reduce transaction costs and complexity, particularly across high-value hospitality purchases where reliability and speed are critical.

Christos Chamberlain, UK and European General Manager at Airwallex, said the partnership highlights how can directly enhance live experiences.

“It is wonderful to be deepening our partnership with Arsenal, bringing the power of Airwallex’s payment technology to the club’s world-class hospitality offering,” Chamberlain said.

“Our Payment Acceptance answer will not only create a frictionless payment experience for fans but also deliver meaningful cost savings to the club – proving how innovative financial infrastructure can elevate sport and entertainment experiences.”

Takeaway

Strengthening a Strategic Technology Partnership

Airwallex already holds the status of Arsenal’s Official Software Partner, and the latest within the club rather than a purely branding-led sponsorship.

The partnership embeds Airwallex’s technology into one of the quickest-growing segments of modern football economics: premium hospitality and corporate experiences.

Arsenal’s Global Partnerships & Ventures Director, Omar Shaikh, said the relationship is built on shared ambition and a focus on innovation.

“We were delighted to welcome Airwallex into our family because they share our ambition, and they are a leader in what they do,” Shaikh said.

“We benefit from the expertise they bring, and the innovation they are already delivering for us and our supporters.”

For clubs operating at the top end of European football, hospitality revenue has become increasingly significant, particularly as teams viewk to diversify income streams beyond broadcasting rights and sponsorships.

Payments infrastructure plays a growing role in that strategy, with clubs looking for platforms that can support high , international customers and premium service expectations.

Takeaway

Payments Technology Meets the Matchday Experience

The hospitality payments upgrade comes as football clubs increasingly focus on improving the end-to-end supporter experience, particularly for premium customers.

Friction at the point of payment — whether through delays, failed transactions or limited payment options — can undermine high-value hospitality offerings, making payments performance a critical part of the overall experience.

By consolidating payments into a single platform, Arsenal aims to remove those points of friction while gaining better visibility into transaction data across its hospitality operations.

For Airwallex, the deployment provides a high-profile environment to demonstrate how its Payments Acceptance technology performs in complex, real-world settings with intense peak demand.

The deal also reflects a broader trend in sport and entertainment, where venues are adopting enterprise-grade answers originally developed for global commerce and cross-border payments.

These systems are increasingly expected to support not only speed and reliability, but also cost optimisation, reporting, and integration with wider operational platforms.

Takeaway

Airwallex’s Growing Presence in Global Sport

The Arsenal announcement builds on Airwallex’s expanding portfolio of global sports partnerships, which already includes Formula One team McLaren Racing.

Sports sponsorships have become an increasingly significant channel for fintech firms viewking global brand recognition alongside demonstrations of technical capability.

For Airwallex, partnerships with globally recognised teams offer exposure to international audiences while reinforcing its positioning as a platform built for scale.

The move also follows a period of strong commercial momentum for the company. Airwallex recently announced that it has surpassed a $1 billion annual revenue run rate and completed a $330 million Series G fundraising round.

Those milestones underline the company’s ambition to expand aggressively across regions and verticals, with sport and entertainment emerging as a key showcase sector.

As competition intensifies among payments providers targeting enterprise and institutional clients, high-profile deployments such as Emirates Stadium use cases.

Takeaway

Payments as Infrastructure, Not Just Transactions

The integration at Arsenal reflects a broader shift in how payments are viewed by large organisations, moving from a back-office function to core operational infrastructure.

For clubs managing tens of thousands of supporters on matchdays, payments reliability and speed are now directly linked to customer satisfaction and revenue performance.

Airwallex’s approach positions payments as an embedded capability rather than a standalone service, aligning with how enterprises across sectors are modernising their financial stacks.

As football clubs continue to commercialise premium experiences and globalise their fanbases, the role of sophisticated payments platforms is likely to expand further.

The Emirates Stadium rollout suggests that payments technology is becoming an integral part of how elite clubs design, price and deliver hospitality offerings.

Takeaway

For both Arsenal and Airwallex, the partnership highlights how financial technology is moving beyond traditional commerce and into the heart of live sport operations, reshaping how supporters engage with premium matchday experiences.